Blown away by an unknown local band called the Sex Pistols, television personality Tony Wilson (Coogan) is inspired to invent a uniquely anarchic record label. Soon he is promoting everyone from New Order to the Happy Mondays on his newly formed Factory Records… and partying like a rock star.

CRITIQUE

Television personality by day, musical impresario by night, Tony Wilson was part of the great musical renaissance that took place in Manchester, England from 1976 to 1992 – “the birth of punk to the death of acid,” as the real-life Wilson has said.

24 Hour Party People feels like a nonstop party, and it does a masterful job of painting that time and place in broad strokes. We have the rock and roll suicide story in Ian Curtis and Joy Division, the sex drugs and rock and roll story in Shawn Ryder and the Happy Mondays (it is a Happy Monday’s lyric from which the film takes its title), the story of Tony Wilson, the story of Manchester, and, at the core, the story of the music scene there that took the world by storm. It does this all in a balanced, naturalistic way that leaves one with the impression that by not having lived in Manchester at that time, that we missed out on something special.

Coogan (himself a native of Manchester) makes Wilson a thoroughly lovable character, one who was really never in it for the money. He starts Factory Records with the declaration that there will be no contracts, and when he opens a rave club called The Hacienda, it fails because the patrons ignore the cash bar and spend all their money on drugs. Later in the film when a group of investors comes in to buy Factory Records, they are dumbstruck to find that there is nothing to buy, no contracts, no back catalog, nothing. Wilson says, “I protected myself from the dilemma of selling out by having nothing to sell.” He embraces the idea of gloriously going down in flames. When New Order releases its first single, the album’s extravagant design causes Factory to actually lose money on every copy they sell, and when the Hacienda closes, Wilson addresses the final night’s crowd, telling them, “I invite you to invade the offices and loot them.”

Wilson is so lovable because he is easy to identify with. In one scene we have him telling a producer that he went to Cambridge, complaining that he is a serious journalist living in one of the most important times in human history. The next day he is interviewing a midget elephant trainer. This is a man who quotes ancient philosophers while hosting Wheel of Fortune, a man who takes himself seriously in a way that is impossible to take seriously. Coogan is brilliant in a role that he seems born to play, and the rest of the cast is clearly having a great time.

The Sex Pistols failed, rave culture faded, and, ultimately, Tony Wilson failed, but it is in that failure that the film finds its heart. The film finds just the right tone and gets it right, and it maintains it through the whole film. The film kids itself. Ultimately, Wilson got something priceless out of it all: he got to live in one of the most important times in human history, and he made his mark on it.

THE VIDEO

The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is crisp, maintaining the grainy video quality the filmmakers were going for without losing any resolution. Optional subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

THE AUDIO

24 Hour Party People is presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround. Any film about music needs a solid audio presentation, and we have a great one here. The sound is sharp, and the dispersal is even throughout.

THE EXTRAS

Commentary with Steve Coogan and Producer Andrew Eaton: An interesting commentary, the two talk about how the film came to be, how certain decisions were made, and what was going on in the production of certain scenes.

Commentary with Tony Wilson: The real-life Tony Wilson talks about the film, pointing out factual discrepancies and instances where artistic license was taken.

About Tony Wilson: This short featurette focuses on the real Tony Wilson and the cast and crew’s experiences with him.

Manchester the Movie: A longer featurette about the city and this film’s relation to it.

11 Deleted Scenes: The material here is extraneous, and the scenes have an unfinished look to them that leads one to think they were never meant to be seen.

Photo Gallery: Production and behind-the-scenes photos.

Theatrical Trailer: The domestic trailer is presented here. It would have been nice to see the UK trailer.

The features really go into depth on the making of the film and how it relates to the real events. There was much artistic license taken, but the filmmakers seem to be celebrating this.

FINAL THOUGHTS

24 Hour Party People is a fun, stylish movie about an interesting time and place in music history.  The cast and crew are clearly aiming to please, and they come through masterfully.  We feel like we’re in on the party, and the result will leaving you smiling for hours.